Professional Boxing Record
| 50 Wins (39 knockouts, 11 decisions), 4 Losses (3 knockouts, 1 decision), 0 Draws | |||||||
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
| Win | 50–4 | Chuck Wepner | RTD | 9 (10) | 29/06/1970 | Armory, Jersey City, New Jersey, United States | Wepner down in 5th round by body punch. Fight stopped by ring doctor after round 9 because of multiple cuts on Wepner's face. |
| Loss | 49–4 | Leotis Martin | KO | 9 (12) | 06/12/1969 | International Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | For vacant NABF Heavyweight title. Martin down in round 4, and was behind on points when he KOed Liston. Martin was forced to retire shortly afterwards, as he suffered a detached retina in this bout. |
| Win | 49–3 | Sonny Moore | KO | 3 (10) | 23/09/1969 | Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, United States | |
| Win | 48–3 | George Johnson | TKO | 7 (10) | 19/05/1969 | Convention Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 47–3 | Billy Joiner | UD | 10 | 28/03/1969 | Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 46–3 | Amos Lincoln | KO | 2 (10) | 10/12/1968 | Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland, United States | |
| Win | 45–3 | Roger Rischer | KO | 3 (10) | 12/11/1968 | Civic Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | Main event of a benefit card for Ben Anolik, Pennsylvania's first heart transplant patient. |
| Win | 44–3 | Willis Earls | KO | 2 (10) | 03/11/1968 | Bull Ring, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico | |
| Win | 43–3 | Sonny Moore | TKO | 3 (10) | 14/10/1968 | Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona, United States | |
| Win | 42–3 | Henry Clark | TKO | 7 (10) | 06/07/1968 | Cow Palace, Daly City, California, United States | |
| Win | 41–3 | Billy Joiner | RTD | 7 (10) | 23/05/1968 | Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States | Joiner down in the 3rd. Joiner retired in his corner after 7 rounds. |
| Win | 40–3 | Bill McMurray | KO | 4 (10) | 16/03/1968 | Coliseum, Reno, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 39–3 | Elmer Rush | TKO | 6 (10) | 28/04/1967 | Johanneshov, Stockholm, Sweden | Rush down twice in 4th, three times in 5th and four times in 6th. |
| Win | 38–3 | Dave Bailey | KO | 1 (10) | 30/03/1967 | Masshallen, Gothenburg, Sweden | |
| Win | 37–3 | Amos Johnson | KO | 3 (10) | 19/08/1966 | Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden | |
| Win | 36–3 | Gerhard Zech | KO | 7 (10) | 01/07/1966 | Johanneshov, Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Loss | 35–3 | Muhammad Ali | KO | 1 (15) | 25/05/1965 | St. Dominic's Hall, Lewiston, Maine, United States | For World Heavyweight title. |
| Loss | 35–2 | Muhammad Ali | RTD | 6 (15) | 25/02/1964 | Convention Hall, Miami Beach, Florida, United States | Lost World Heavyweight title. Liston retired on his stool citing an injured shoulder. 1964 Fight of the Year by The Ring Magazine |
| Win | 35–1 | Floyd Patterson | KO | 1 (15) | 22/07/1963 | Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Retained World Heavyweight Title. Patterson was knocked down 3 times. |
| Win | 34–1 | Floyd Patterson | KO | 1 (15) | 25/09/1962 | Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States | Won World Heavyweight Title. Liston made history by being the first man to ever knockout a heavyweight champion in the first round in boxing history. |
| Win | 33–1 | Albert Westphal | KO | 1 (10) | 04/12/1961 | Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | First time Westphal was knocked down in his career. |
| Win | 32–1 | Howard King | TKO | 3 (10) | 08/03/1961 | Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 31–1 | Eddie Machen | UD | 12 | 07/09/1960 | Sick's Stadium, Seattle, Washington, United States | Liston penalized three points for low blows. |
| Win | 30–1 | Zora Folley | KO | 3 (12) | 18/07/1960 | Coliseum, Denver, Colorado, United States | Liston's sledge-hammer hands smashed Folley to the canvas twice in the 2nd round. |
| Win | 29–1 | Roy Harris | TKO | 1 (10) | 25/04/1960 | Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, United States | Harris was down three times. |
| Win | 28–1 | Cleveland Williams | TKO | 2 (10) | 21/03/1960 | Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, United States | Williams was down for an 8-count before the knockout. |
| Win | 27–1 | Howard King | TKO | 8 (10) | 23/02/1960 | Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 26–1 | Willi Besmanoff | TKO | 7 (10) | 09/12/1959 | Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, United States | Besmanoff absorbed a barrage of punches in the 6th round and was bleeding from several bad gashes over his eyes. The referee stopped the bout between rounds and it was scored a 7th round TKO. |
| Win | 25–1 | Nino Valdez | KO | 3 (10) | 05/08/1959 | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, United States | |
| Win | 24–1 | Cleveland Williams | TKO | 3 (10) | 15/04/1959 | Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States | Williams was knocked down twice in the 3rd. |
| Win | 23–1 | Mike DeJohn | TKO | 6 (10) | 18/02/1959 | Exhibition Hall, Miami Beach, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 22–1 | Ernie Cab | TKO | 8 (10) | 18/11/1958 | Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States | Doctor stopped the bout due to Cab's left eye and nose being cut. |
| Win | 21–1 | Bert Whitehurst | UD | 10 | 24/10/1958 | Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | Whitehurst was knocked through the ropes, and was attempting to climb back into the ring as the final bell rang at the count of seven. |
| Win | 20–1 | Frankie Daniels | KO | 1 (10) | 07/10/1958 | Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 19–1 | Wayne Bethea | TKO | 1 (10) | 06/08/1958 | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, United States | |
| Win | 18–1 | Julio Mederos | RTD | 2 (10) | 14/05/1958 | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, United States | |
| Win | 17–1 | Bert Whitehurst | PTS | 10 | 03/04/1958 | Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 16–1 | Ben Wise | TKO | 4 (10) | 11/03/1958 | Midwest Gymnasium, Chicago, Illinois, United States | |
| Win | 15–1 | Billy Hunter | TKO | 2 (10) | 29/01/1958 | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, United States | |
| Win | 14–1 | Marty Marshall | UD | 10 | 06/03/1956 | Pittsburgh Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | Marshall substituted on four days notice for Harold Johnson who injured his shoulder in training. |
| Win | 13–1 | Larry Watson | TKO | 4 (10) | 13/12/1955 | Alnad Temple, East St. Louis, Illinois, United States | |
| Win | 12–1 | Johnny Gray | TKO | 6 (10) | 13/09/1955 | Victory Field, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States | |
| Win | 11–1 | Calvin Butler | TKO | 2 (8) | 25/05/1955 | Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 10–1 | Emil Brtko | TKO | 5 (10) | 05/05/1955 | Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | |
| Win | 9–1 | Marty Marshall | TKO | 6 (10) | 21/04/1955 | Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | Marshall down once in round 5 and 3 times in round 6. |
| Win | 8–1 | Neal Welch | PTS | 8 | 01/03/1955 | Masonic Temple, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Loss | 7–1 | Marty Marshall | SD | 8 | 07/09/1954 | Motor City Arena, Detroit, Michigan, United States | Liston suffered a broken jaw during round 4. |
| Win | 7–0 | Johnny Summerlin | SD | 8 | 10/08/1954 | Motor City Arena, Detroit, Michigan, United States | |
| Win | 6–0 | Johnny Summerlin | UD | 8 | 29/06/1954 | Motor City Arena, Detroit, Michigan, United States | Summerlin had suffered a fractured nose in a sparring session shortly before this fight. |
| Win | 5–0 | Stanley Howlett | PTS | 6 | 31/03/1954 | Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 4–0 | Martin Lee | TKO | 6 (6) | 25/01/1954 | Masonic Temple, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 3–0 | Bennie Thomas | SD | 6 | 21/11/1953 | Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 2–0 | Ponce de Leon | PTS | 4 | 17/09/1953 | Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 1–0 | Don Smith | TKO | 1 (4) | 02/09/1953 | Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, United States | Smith apparently did not have a chance, as Liston swarmed all over him. After Referee Jimmy Parker halted the fight, it was discovered that Smith also was sporting a badly lacerated right eye. |
Read more about this topic: Sonny Liston
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